Riverfly

Did you know that freshwater supports the greatest concentration of biodiversity on this planet? Whilst freshwater habitats cover less than 1% of the planetss surface, they support up to 10% of known species!

The UK has over 4,100 different species of invertebrate that spend all, or part of their lives in rivers, ponds and other freshwater habitats. These include mayflies, stoneflies and caddisflies (collectively known as riverflies), damselflies, water beetles and pond skaters. A recent study has highlighted that freshwater living invertebrates are at greater risk of extinction (33%) than terrestrial living invertebrates (28%). River invertebrates are like the canaries in the mine, they give us an indication of river health. They are vital to the river ecosystem.

people inspecting riverfly
image of people studying bugs Ceres Burn Training
picture of bugs on a white spoon
image of spoon with bugs
image of person in the water
image of people looking at riverfly
image of small lamprey
image of people looking at riverfly samples and charts
image of people running riverfly id session
image of people looking at riverfly and id charts
image of riverfly recording sheet
image of riverfly sample tray
image of approved riverfly site cupar looking upstream
riverfly training heads down count
buglife logo
image of people meeting up for riverfly training
image of spoon with riverfly
image of people in the river sampling riverfly in river eden fife
image of river fly volunteers in fife
image of riverfly volunteers in fife
image of riverfly volunteers
people in river sampling riverfly
people sampling riverfly by cow bridge
image of people kicksampling by pitlessie bridge
image of great diving beetle
image of people counting invertebrates

Objectives

What can we do to protect them?

Communities all over Scotland have been getting out and monitoring their rivers, including groups in Fife. The RESP riverfly group is part of a nationwide citizen science scheme trained in monitoring river invertebrates – this is done through Buglife Scotlands’s Guardians of our Rivers’s project.

Training is delivered for free by Buglifes’s qualified Riverfly Partnership trainer, offering certified training to volunteers. Creating a network of Citizen Scientists all across Scotland. Training involves one three hour online session and then a three hour training on the river.

We provide training and support on how to:

  • monitor and survey rivers for invertebrates;
  • identify groups of invertebrates;
  • share stories and lessons learnt between communities;
  • spot early warning signs of habitats in crisis;
  • and record their findings to environmental agencies and recording schemes.

Once established, groups will have access to ongoing support and information to help them become confident and secure with the methods and identification of the invertebrates found in their rivers.

The RESP Riverfly team aims to increase monitoring sites to 6, from Gateside to Kemback.

Funders

nature restoration fund logos
buglife logo

Join a Riverfly group locally

Enrol now for the Buglife Riverfly training and join us on the river soon!

From April to October RESP Riverfly meet once a month for a couple of hours, on the river, in small teams. We monitor a few sites on the River Eden. Once trained you would always have experienced volunteers with you and all equipment needed is supplied.

Enrol now for the Buglife Riverfly training and join us on the river soon!

From April to October RESP Riverfly meet once a month for a couple of hours, on the river, in small teams. We monitor a few sites on the River Eden. Once trained you would always have experienced volunteers with you and all equipment needed is supplied.